REMEMBERING THE ABSOLUTE ALTITUDE RECORD SET BY FEDOTOV MiG-25 40 YEARS AGO

On Aug. 31, 1977 Alexandr Vasilievich Fedotov, an official ‘Hero of the Soviet Union’ and test pilot, set an FAI World Record for altitude when he climbed to 123,523 feet (37,650 meters) in his MiG-25.

Fedotov, a highly esteemed Soviet test pilot and a graduate of the Moscow Aviation Institute, was born on Jun. 23, 1932 in Stalingrad in the then-USSR.

A test pilot since 1958 he helped test-fly the famous MiG series of planes, including the MiG-19, MiG-21, MiG-23, MiG-25, MiG-29 and MiG-31. He was the first Soviet test pilot to reach Mach 3 – three-times the speed of sound.

During his time as a test pilot he set 15 aviation world records, including the one on Aug. 31, 1977.

To establish that record, Fedotov flew an experimental MiG-25 fighter. The aircraft was actually a MiG-25RB re-engined with the powerful R15BF2-300. Flying this aircraft he reached the record height of 123,523 feet above Podmoskovnoe, Russia.

According to FAI he set “a world record in Class C of Powered Aeroplanes – for planes that take off under their own power.”

Already made a Hero of the Soviet Union in 1966, Fedotov went on to become a Major-General of Aviation and an Honoured Coach of the USSR.

The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 (NATO reporting name: Foxbat) is a supersonic interceptor and reconnaissance aircraft that was among the fastest military aircraft to enter service. It was conceived, designed and developed by the Soviet Union’s Mikoyan-Gurevich bureau, and built primarily using stainless steel, one of the few combat aircraft to do so.

The MiG-25 was the last plane designed by Mikhail Gurevich before his retirement.

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